Eensy Weensy Obelisks

Lincoln's Tomb
(Photo by Joseph Isaac Carroll)

What do Ludwig van Beethoven and Abraham Lincoln have in common?  That’s easy – they both have obelisk tombstones.

Chances are that they even had obelisks while still alive: tiny critters that inhabited their digestive tracts.  As Beethoven was hammering his Fifth and Lincoln was addressing Gettysburg, these rod-shaped viroids were busily transmitting bio-bits.

According to University of Bath Professor Ed Feil, a viroid is “one step down from a virus… just a scrap of genetic RNA that can’t make proteins,” but can wreak havoc in flowering plants. 

Can they also wreak havoc in humans?  That remains to be seen.  Yet these bodily invaders seem to have left Beethoven and Lincoln with most of their extraordinary faculties intact.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/lifestyle/obelisk-lifeform-hiding-inside-humans-130000899.html

Three Coins in the Engine

 

Trevi Fountain - Rome, Italy
(1750 Painting by G. P. Pannini)

If you’re tired of being single, the solution is simple: Visit the Trevi Fountain in Rome and throw three coins into it.  If you do this with your right hand over your left shoulder as you face away from the fountain, legend has it that your marital status will change.

China also has a tradition of good-luck coins.  There’s a “lucky money toad named Ch’an Chu” that sits upon many Chinese tables and shelves.  This figurine holds “a small gold coin in his mouth” and is said to “bring wealth and protect one from financial disasters.”

All well and good, thus far.  Throwing coins into a fountain is a relatively harmless endeavor, as is harboring a virtual toad.  Yet  throwing coins into a jet engine before takeoff can be quite another story.  Chinese Southern Airlines recently issued a stern warning against this so-called “uncivilized behavior” after a passenger admitted throwing three to five coins at a runway aircraft in order to ensure a good flight.

Resources

https://www.iheart.com/content/2024-03-08-officials-asking-plane-passengers-to-stop-throwing-coins-at-planes/

https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/can-coins-bring-good-fortune/